Carl D. Smith Writes

1/22/2026

I am fighting the urge to do the very writerly thing and either launch into a purple introduction, or do some sort of clue laden tease of what exactly this blog will serve up. But I am going to spare you from my cleverness.

Fantômas. 

In my lifelong chain of hobbies and personal side-quests, there have been few characters that have fully captured my imagination as firmly as the Lord of Terror, Fantômas. While not a name that is readily recognized in 2026, his influence on fiction is most certainly still felt daily. He was a villain without a modus operandi but that he enjoyed chaos and lived within no external limitations of morality.

Furthermore, Fantomas did not exist to be a foil to the featured do-gooder of choice. He was hounded by Inspector Juve and the persistent Fandor. Neither are efficient or successful. They are not Holmes and Watson, not Batman and Robin - yet, Fantômas is all of Moriarty and Joker in one, with a fair dash of Edward Teach, HH Holmes, and Jack the Ripper for good measure. 

In the coming months I will be dropping, among other diversions, posts about Fantomas. These will be little nuggets and thoughts as I work with the Midnight Circus crew on two projects. The first is a line of English language reprints of assorted Fantomas books from his original two eras. The second, and more exciting, is an entirely new reintroduction of Fantomas in an entirely original story. 

So watch this space. My goal is not to approach the topic of Fantômas like some scholarly pursuit, but more like a celebration of his influence and the possibilities such a devil offers modern literature.